Final Frames | Judd Trump vs Luca Brecel | 2022 Champion of Champions R1 ‒ Snooker

Mark Allen and Joe Perry will play the second match this afternoon. It's drifting on and on. Very easy escape back to bulk here for Luca Purcell's safety shot. Little reds on the right side of the table there. They're all, you can get to them all but to hit one thin. Pretty good shot this one. Covered up a number of reds. You can pop these, I mean it's very difficult. In a situation where a defensive shot is probably more difficult than the pot itself. Wow, that is fantastic. One. Luca Purcell, one. Well in a roundabout way it might give him a chance to take this frame. It was such a great pot. Goodness me. Most of those long range shots are screw shots but that was a powerful topspin. Good exchange this one in safety. Yeah, it's not easy. Just trying to glance off that right hand wrench. Take the cable up maybe behind the yellow and green perhaps. He's played it nicely. I think that I said it before this but the standard of safety play right now in 2022 is the best it's ever been in snooker. Now all of the players, even the attacking players, have got good all-round games. Good defensive games which you have to have. Now not the classic technique but the way that it generates speed through the cue, through the ball, all the spin. That last shot was made to look easy. Very difficult. Six. Just so instinctive. He sees everything immediately. Of course he's been playing from a very young age. Eleven. Literally sort of five years old. He's been playing cue sports and had a lot of early success. He won the English under 15 national title when he was just 10. When he got to 14 he was certainly good enough to be a professional but back then the rules were that you had to be 16 or over. So he spent two years almost in limbo just waiting to get to 16. 18. 19. Very happy. With that shot I can only think he must have played on the black. I believe the pink will go but it's not full pocket. I mean if he was right behind it he would knock this in. I would never lie. I could see that it was possible. 25. 26. Yeah, I'll tell you what. He could play and get everything open around the pink and black spot here. Played on the loose there. That's a great shot actually. Much better than the one that I suggested. 31. The lead is building and the ball's becoming more awkward and that's against Luca Brussel. 37. 38. 44. 45. 51. Just a couple of balls away. A couple of reds away here from securing a 3-1 lead. Judge on 51. Didn't sound the best contact this. No and if there was to have been a kick of any description usually the ball would throw off. Yeah, he went big didn't he? Tried to putt the more difficult red. Moved the other red. So Brussel with it all to do. His highest break only 34 so far today. So everything really needs to improve from his perspective. Pot success 80%. These are all stats that need to go up soon in the next frame. This is frame ball for 3-1. 6. 11. 12. 19. 19 in the frame. So Judge Trump moved a step closer to the quarterfinal match this evening. Luca Brussel, as I say, needs to improve in all areas. Trump leads 3-1. Yes, it just felt as if Luca was... His spirit had been dampened a little bit by the way that that last frame was going and the re-rack might just help him because he's in this match still at 3-1 down but he probably needs a confidence boosting break win a frame quickly and get himself back on track and of course that is very possible here. 12. It's not the pot, it's just getting onto a colour I think he's most worried about. 13. Okay, he had to hold it quite gently to not finish on the left cushion for the black. 20. 21. The next shot is not going to be much fun if he takes this thin black on and get the feeling he'd like to. This is not an easy one by any means. 28. 29. He's not enjoying complete control of the cue ball today. I think that last shot underlined that there's been a continuing trend all afternoon. More of the same. Oh no, surely not. Well, he's drifted past the yellow and he's got to play this long red now. Back to his chair ever so quickly there, wasn't he? Not delighted with the way things are going. This is difficult. These reds are far enough apart to be very missable. 1. As you can see from that. A long way between them. Blue ball. But blue stays out. It's not over yet for Brassel. He's got to keep his self-belief here because he's not been put away there. 1. 8. Yeah, again, it's just gone a bit awkward. 16. Story of the day. Look at Brassel. Not lighting the mood. Again, the chance to play the recovery shot which stays up. 1. Oh no. Hard to say that he would clear up from here. Looking where all the balls are at the other end of the table, the colours. But you'd also think that he could get very much back into the frame. 8. 9. Yes, he's going to want to get the blue on his spot here. Quite important, that, I think. So already, you look at where the yellow is. 14. 15. 20. 21. 28. 29. Yeah, on the black. He's not allowing him to get close to either red. Not right behind it, very easily. Oh. And then trying to... Jump, jump, 29. ...across the table. I think he used a little bit of right hand running side. He just took his eye off the pot, perhaps. But it was the positional reason, I think, that he missed the pot in the end. A little bit of running side on that cue ball. So Brassel needs the two reds here. 1. 8. He's been in a real scramble this frame. But the red goes in, so it's looking like 3-2. And Brassel, the body language has not been good. He's looked really annoyed with things. But he's still in this match. He's got closer at 3-2. Trump's form from the early part of the match has just gone away a little bit. 14. Two snookers needed. Look at Brassel. 14. Yeah, I think he's tempted to play on because of where some of the balls are on the table. The worst for trying to get snookers. 5. And conceded. Didn't get the snooker. And has conceded the frame. So Luca Brassel is still in there fighting, despite not at his best today. This match is not done yet. Trump's lead is reduced to 3-2. Before that last frame, he should win this match. But he's not through yet. So he's looking to get back into the flow again and get the match won. 1. Pinged it in beautifully. Certainly a confidence booster though. Opening red there. 8. He may well be able to get through to the red now by the black. He'll have to nudge into the black though. That's unavoidable if he plays it. He's stretching. Lots of reason to think that he might execute the shot perfectly. Shot. It's kind of been the story of the match. You know, he played a pretty good shot there. And the black's gone in the general direction of the right corner. But it's become unpotable. So that's a bit of a pity for what looked a promising start to the frame for Judd. Shot trumped. 16. Yeah, same sort of look on his face. Another one just stays out. 1. Maybe a bit of screwing might have reversed side there. Took the cue ball down the table from the cushion. 7. 12. 13. Well, he could go into them. But he's not always enjoyed the best of things happen in his favour when he's done that in this match. Neither has Luca, to be honest. Only luck this time. Amazing, isn't it? You know, they're just not really spreading for either player. 18. He played that perfectly well, I thought. Slight worry, I think, for Judd. Thinking, well, keep getting to the point of getting the match won. 19. Shot trumped. 19. Foul. And a miss. He is hanging on, though, Luca. That's all he's doing at the moment. Yellow just could be in the way of the pot. But, well, Judd, a little bit of a sinking feeling there, knowing that there's a chance this red is pottable directly. Now, if this goes in, he gets on the by-value colour, say the blue. All of a sudden, a totally different story, this frame. It must be tight, though. Must be tight. You see, you kind of flick a little bit of right-hand side on those and it's against the nap of the cloth. If you play it gently, it starts to go the other way. That's what he may have done. It was too close to call as to whether it potted. 20. Shot trumped. 21. Yeah, as you would say, nil sand and cement treatment. Yeah, I mean, he's using his experience there. There's no obvious way out of this. I'm trusting this might end up going back, you know. Foul on this. Shot trumped. I think, if I were Judd, I'd be thinking, well, if he's going to do that shot again, put it back, providing he tried the same shot. Yeah, I mean, he played it initially very, very quickly. I think all things considered, to be delighted with that result. What was a nasty snooker that it was in? He's going with the safety shot again. As I say, Luca Bussell is somehow in this match still. Against all the odds, really. Even this frame, he's still there. Yes, 44 behind. But the balls are favourable, if only. You know, he can pot one, break free. Now he's looking at a four ball plant. Goodness me. Wow. That's why he played that at the Judd trump on his next shot, because he's going to be in the same trouble. So it's well worked. Luca Bussell. One. Yeah. There might be the chance of laying up to a red this time. Fully aware he has left a red. This has still got to be potted. Might be able to play on the blue. One. Six. Fourteen. Fifteen. Twenty-two. Twenty-three. Yeah, he's got the angle here. He wants to be able to shift the top red of the two, I think. Possibly lay on the other one. Land on the other one. No, that's all right. That's good. Moving that red, as I mentioned. I think he'd have tried to hit it full ball. Thirty. It's a thin one to the middle. Thirty-one. Oh, the next shot's very big if he's got an angle. If he's got an angle. Yeah, I think he could get in behind this red. There's a little bit of power on this. Brush the red, but he still played it well. Come on, George. Luca Bussell, 38. He couldn't complain about the positional side. He couldn't have been any better on that red. But, as you see, he's caught the right-hand George. Never in. What a chance he's missed there. Yeah, he was smiling, but he's not happy, clearly. Nice little nudge. That got him in a snooker. Just nudged the brown. One-handed. Which, of course, Mark Williams does that shot one-handed. I never understand it. And I don't think that shot has enhanced the prospects of other players playing it either. Because it might be his last shot. One. Don't try it at home. Play conventionally. Every shot now feels big. Trump on this black. Already six in front. Eight. That's not bad, Dave. That really could be the shot just landing behind the green. I think there's no doubt he's played the better snooker. It's become a bit of an ordeal, frankly, trying to get over this winning line. Brussell had a great chance, didn't he, on that last red. He'd done a lot of the hard work. He got on the red, missed it. 17. So the defending champion is into the quarterfinal this evening. Luca Brussell, I don't think he's going to look back with too much fondness on this match. Not least because even though he struggled, he did in the end have a chance to force a decider. But it's judged the defending champion of champions goes through to the quarterfinals this evening. Luca Brussell by 4-2. And we'll speak to him live after the break.